Sublime

Sublime bio, timeline, discography, pics & more

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Sublime photo 1996

Sublime Biography

The Ska-Punk three-piece outfit Sublime was formed in Long Beach, California
USA, in 1988 by singer + guitarist Bradley Nowell, bassist Eric Wilson and
drummer Floyd 'Bud' Gaugh.
The guys slowly built a solid skate community following through constant
touring blending a love of dance-hall Ska and Rock-steady Reggae rhythms
with an aggressive Punk ethic.

In 1992, Nowell and the band manager, Michael 'Miguel' Happoldt, founded
their own label, Skunk Records, to release Sublime's debut album "40
Oz. To Freedom"; the record included "Date Rape" the single
that helped the band break into mainstream nearly three years later.

In 1994 the trio released a second album titled "Robbin' The Hood"
and signed to MCA subsidiary Gasoline Alley; both of their first two albums
were independently distributed the following year and "40 Oz. To
Freedom" cracked the top 20 of the Billboard Magazine's Top Heatseekers
list.
Sadly, on May 25, 1996, Bradley Nowell was found in a San Francisco hotel
room, dead of a heroin overdose.

When the self-titled full-length disc was released in July of 1996, it
immediately crashed into the top 100 of The Billboard 200 Albums chart
and later peaked at #13, highlighted by such hit singles as "What
I Got", #1 on The Modern Rock chart and #11 on Mainstream Rock Tracks, "Doin' Time", their first-ever Billboard's Hot 100 entry,
plus two more Modern Rock top 3 hits: "Santeria" and "Wrong
Way".

The album ultimately went gold and was followed by a handful of posthumous
releases, "Second Hand Smoke" reached the #28 position on The Billboard
Top 200 Albums chart. The set, which was released in November 1997, collected
a number of previously unreleased tracks, a couple of remixes of "Doin'
Time" and the Gwen Stefani duet,
"Saw Red".
Six months later, MCA put out the live-album "Stand By Your Van",
which climbed into the top 50 of The Billboard 200 chart.